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People who oppose Talbot House Ministries’ plan to build a new campus on Memorial Boulevard aren’t waiting until a public hearing on April 6 to voice their concerns.
About 15 people gathered at the intersection of Ingraham Avenue and Memorial Boulevard with picket signs and matching T-shirts on Friday, March 20.
Signs read, “STOP Talbot House Relocation,” “Great Mission, Wrong Location,” and “No Talbot, Not Here.”
The demonstration comes as the debate over the nonprofit’s proposed relocation heads toward a pivotal public hearing at the April 6 City Commission meeting — one that could determine whether the project moves forward or stays blocked.
Talbot House operates a nightly shelter for people experiencing homelessness, along with short-term residential programs, case management, a free clinic, and job training.
The nonprofit wants to build a 72,000-square-foot facility on 2.63 acres at the southeast corner of Memorial Boulevard and Ingraham Avenue. But it needs a small-scale land use amendment and zoning change to get there.
Wanda Avery, a protester who lives in the Edgewater neighborhood, has been a Lakeland resident for over 21 years. “We came out to publicly notify the local community and the businesses that, in fact, Talbot House is expanding,” she said.
She crossed out “relocation” on her sign and replaced it with “expansion.”
“I honestly don’t believe they’re being forthcoming with what their future plans are,” Avery said.
Zoning denial challenged
In December, Lakeland’s Planning and Zoning Board voted 4-1 to deny the zoning change, with members pointing to concerns about the location.
Neighbors who spoke at that hearing said they worried about crime, the site’s proximity to schools, and whether a large homeless services campus belongs along one of the city’s busiest corridors.
Talbot House’s attorney says those concerns crossed a legal line.
In a Jan. 15 appeal letter, attorney Tim Campbell argued the board’s decision wasn’t based on the city’s rules, but on bias against the people the facility would serve.
He wrote that board members’ comments were “discriminatory with respect to the proposed housing and delivery of services to a portion of the homeless population” and “not supported by competent, substantial evidence.”
Campbell also warned the decision could expose the city to legal risk, arguing it may violate the federal Fair Housing Act and other civil rights protections.
Rather than applying the city’s comprehensive plan and land development code, he wrote, board members were swayed by neighborhood pushback — including objections from nearby residents and business owners.
Protesters: right mission, wrong location
Friday’s protesters are hoping for an outcome in their favor at the April 6 hearing.
“The fight that we’ve taken on for the last year and a half has to be fought all over again in 14 days,” Avery said. “We don’t have the luxury of hiring an attorney. Most of us are middle-class, retired. We’re a vulnerable population in ourselves, in that little community, and we have a lot of retired individuals. … and so we’re out here representing. And God willing, the city commissioners will hear our plea and understand: We support the mission, but this location is not the right location.”
Protesters also echoed concerns raised at city meetings.
Josh Borem, a Lakeland resident and business owner who paid to have the signs and shirts made for Friday’s demonstration, said, “I toured Talbot House two or three days ago, and I love what they’re doing. I think it’s great. I see the people in there. They need help. The problem is if they’re 99% great and perfect, that 1% is the ones that are out there, loitering, littering, urinating, defecating, scaring people.”
Don Burns, of “I am Lakeland,” has lived in the area for 22 years and helped to organize the protest. He is concerned about crime and safety, especially with the proposed location being a short distance from the church across the street and Skate World on Lake Parker Avenue.
Both Borem and Burns expressed concerns about the traffic and speeds on Memorial Boulevard. They’re worried about the safety of people who might stay at the proposed new facility once it’s built.
What happens next
The appeal sets up a two-step process before the City Commission — one that will focus first on whether the Planning and Zoning Board followed the law.
The commissioners agreed to hold a public hearing on April 6 to decide whether the appeal has merit.
Under the city’s land development code, that means answering a narrow question: Did the board make a procedural or legal mistake?
The code allows appeals if, for example, the board failed to follow due process, misapplied the city’s standards, or based its decision on evidence that doesn’t hold up.
If commissioners don’t find one of those errors, the denial stands.
City Attorney Palmer Davis said the appeal was filed on time and meets the minimum criteria to be heard.
If a majority of commissioners agrees the appeal has merit, they are expected to hold a second, more detailed hearing on April 20. That hearing would be “de novo,” meaning commissioners would consider the request from scratch — including new testimony and evidence.
At that point, they could approve the project, deny it again, or send it back to the Planning and Zoning Board.
The April 6 meeting begins at 9 a.m. in the City Commission Chambers on the third floor of City Hall, 228 S. Massachusetts Ave.
Today’s protesters said they will continue to try to make their opinions heard and may plan additional protests in the future.
“We have kids in the neighborhood, and we’ve already had issues with the homeless coming in,” said Brian Rogers, who lives in the Lake Parker neighborhood. “It doesn’t belong here. It needs to go to a safer place.”
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Very good reporting. Thank you both.
I say they should put the Talbot house there at memorial avenue. There’s plenty of homeless people to serve in that area. Don’t let those residents tell you otherwise that area is full of homelessness and despair. Talbot will provide those people the help that is desperately needed.
Typical..we want to help homeless.
Just not in MY backyard..good upstanding Christian folk that you are.